If you want to know why it's called the World Wide Web or the 'Net, you might consider
those users who start out as eager as a bee in a flower garden but wind up as hopelessly
stuck as a housefly on sticky-paper. Cyberspace travel needn't be frustrating. Hop up here
behind me on my modem and we'll vroom around looking at ways to plan a car trip.

CyberAtlas
by DeLorme offers attractive maps but if the samples I looked at are typical, use them
with caution. For example, the boulevard on which I live, the main thoroughfare of a
large, busy city, is shown but not named. Also, various landmarks incorrectly located, one
of them the regions major public transportation hub. Driving directions to a suburb
suggested a route that only a Manhattan cab-driver might love. The proposed way involved
many 20 mile-per-hour city streets through a dozen downtowns, while ignoring a zippy,
generally wide-open, parallel highway.

If you need a map for installation on your own your web site or to print out, MapBlast
might be your first choice. Label your maps key points (e.g.: "our house"
or "Aunt Sallys") and customize them with icons (a star, stop sign, etc.).
The locator is versatile, automatically correcting misspelled addresses and allowing
searches by closest intersection. Also, the addition of maps of European cities is a
welcome bonus. Still, Map Blasts urban routing, with unnecessary twists and turns,
is not as efficient as it might be.

The MapQuest
combination of routing and maps is the best of the bunch. You may display or print a
variety of versions, including the highly practical Automobile Association of America
"strip map" which places the destination at the top. I find that less confusing
than a traditional folding road map which I occasionally must read upside down or while
standing on my head.

That doesnt exhaust the list of online map and driving directions services. The list
of those worth your hour-glass hang-time has improved since we reported on this category
more than a year ago.

Theres Etak, "the worlds leading provider of digital maps."
It wasn't too long ago that the web site of this Sony subsidiary was sorry mess based upon
an uninformative, generically-labeled menu and long-scrolling pages of screen-wide text
extolling the companys size and achievements. That's been fixed. The range of
products has been greatly expanded to include Palm Pilot compatibles and a variety of GPS
tools.

Etak's maps always have been among the best on the Internet and the redesigned web site
justifies their use. One clever feature lets you search by zip code or city name or even
longitude and latitude, zoom in to 1/10th of a mile scale (city blocks are
often longer), then click at any point on the map to discover the address at that
location.

A window
into the exact same map data supported
with accurate routing is MapsOnUs.
The interface is easily easy on the eyes and the infrastructure deserves applause for its
careful attention to consumer support. You can even create an address book with your home
and work addresses, plus your favorite restaurants, stores, parks, museums, and more!

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(note:
The material that appears below may or may not have been published in your local newspaper
when the column was originally.)

Roads Less Traveled:

AutoPilotHad I seen this site before finishing the above article, I
would have rated AutoPilot highly for its clean, practical design and useful Travel
Planner.

Zip2Try the map feature using your home address and you'll
discover this is a good source for a map you can place on your web site or print out. The
data is linked to a search that allows you to find specific businesses.